Eddie Murphy Named The Most Overpaid Actor

*Forbes has released its annual list of Hollywood’s most overpaid actors, and leading the pack is one-time Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy.

The actor’s career seemed headed for a rebound with a 2007 best supporting actor Oscar nomination for “Dreamgirls” and an announcement that he would host the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. But he dropped out of the hosting gig after producer Brett Ratner left, and his three most recent films have disappointed at the box office.

If you take out Murphy’s voice role in the latest “Shrek” movie, “Shrek Forever After,” the worldwide gross of Murphy’s last three live-action films — “Imagine That,” “Tower Heist” and “A Thousand Words” — is a combined domestic box office total of $196.3 million.

Compare that performance to his early ’80s run of the hits “48 Hrs.,” “Trading Places” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” which collectively hauled in $316.3 million.

Forbes estimates that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, he returned $2.30 at the box office.

Following Murphy on the list is Katherine Heigl, who has been dealing with flops such as “One for the Money,” which failed to earn back its estimated $40-million production cost at the box office.

Oscar-winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock came in at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, on the list, with Jack Black rounding out the top five.

The next five are Nicolas Cage, Adam Sandler, Denzel Washington, Ben Stiller and Sarah Jessica Parker.